London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington and Chelsea 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington & Chelsea Borough]
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of Food (Amendment) Regulations, 1959, have been made jointly by the
Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
The Ice Cream Regulations prescribe standards for ice cream and
introduce separate standards for "dairy ice cream" (or "dairy cream
ice" or "cream ice") and for "milk ice".
The Labelling Regulations prohibit the labelling, marking or
advertising of ice cream in a manner suggestive of butter, cream, milk
or anything connected with the dairy interest unless the ice cream
contains no fat other than milk (except such as may be introduced by
the use as an ingredient of any egg, flavouring substance, or
emulsifying or stabilising agent), but permit the presence of skimmed
milk solids to be declared. These Regulations also provide that it is
an offence to sell under the description "ice-cream", any pre-packed
ice cream which contains fat other than milk fat, unless it bears on
the wrapper or container a declaration "Contains non-milk fat" or, if
appropriate, "Contains vegetable fat" in type of a prescribed minimum
size.
The following table shows the number of samples of ice cream taken during 1966 for chemical analysis compared with those taken in the previous year:-
| 1965 | 1966 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of samples | 23 | 20 |
| Variation of fat content per cent | 5.9 to 13.0 | 5.0 to 12.5 |
| Variation of non-fat content per cent | 15.1 to 29.7 | 20.8 to 29.4 |
| Average fat content per cent | 8.8 | 8.4 |
| Average non-fat content per cent | 25.0 | 26.0 |
The Ice Cream (Heat Treatment, etc.) Regulations, 1959. require
that ingredients used in the manufacture of ice cream are to be
pasteurised or sterilised.
There is still no legal bacteriological standard for ice cream.
As in previous years, samples were taken and submitted for examination
under the provisional methylene blue reduction test, which is a simple
and practical means for the routine examination of ice cream. The test
is not of sufficient precision to justify its use as a statutory test.
The grading is determined by the length of time taken to decolourise
the methylene blue, and it is suggested that, if samples consistently
fail to reach grades 1 and 2, it would be reasonable to regard this as
an indication of defects in manufacture or handling which warrant
further investigation.
During the year, forty-eight samples of ice cream were taken and submitted to the methylene blue test. The results are as follows:-
| Grade | Number of samples | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | ||
| 2 | 9 | ||
| 3 | 10 | ||
| 4 | 13 |
Premises in the borough where ice cream is manufactured, stored
or sold were frequently inspected during the year, and generally
were found to be in a satisfactory condition.